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They're losing money because that's a ridiculously expensive price and people looking to just get from point A to B would not pay that.
by chrischen 9y ago
They're losing money because that's a ridiculously expensive price and people looking to just get from point A to B would not pay that.
- ghaff 9y agoSo they should cut their prices and lose even more money? The basic problem is that outside of the Northeast Corridor--which is very popular, profitable, and getting new infrastructure investment--there are very few city pairs in the US that have the right combination of density and distance. Effectively the Northeast Corridor makes all the money that Amtrak then loses in the rest of the country. This is a few years old but summarizes Amtrak profit (or lack thereof) by route: http://reasonrail.blogspot.com/2014/11/amtrak-routes-by-2014-cost-recovery.html http://reasonrail.blogspot.com/2014/11/amtrak-routes-by-2014...
- chrischen 9y agoSometimes something is just obsolete. Their uncompetitive price reflects that.
- ghaff 9y agoYes. But, it's not politically tenable to simply shut down rail service in the US outside of the Northeast Corridor. (Nor is it obvious that would be a good decision at a national level for many reasons.)